CBC Dropped - Revision history

Jon Preddle at 21:44, 9 May 2015

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Jon Preddle at 21:55, 4 May 2015

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Jon Preddle at 23:04, 5 April 2015

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Jon Preddle at 22:55, 5 April 2015

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Jon Preddle at 22:47, 5 April 2015

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Jon Preddle at 22:02, 5 April 2015

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Jon Preddle at 22:01, 5 April 2015

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Jon Preddle at 09:43, 5 April 2015

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 The mixed public/private nature of the CBC was a necessary compromise that permitted the rapid growth of the CBC television network. Canada has a small population (half that of Britain) but its territory is vast (second largest country in the world by area). The cost of establishing a national television service was significantly higher than that of Britain. Further, the CBC had to provide a national television service in both English and French.
-The CBC also faced fierce competition. One of its strongest competitors was the privately owned CTV network, established in 1961. The BBC also faced competition from private networks such as ABC and ITV, but much unlike the British industry, the CBC faced direct international competition from foreign networks. In 1965, some 55% of the population of Canada could directly receive American broadcasts and cable television networks were growing rapidly to distribute US programming to Canadian viewers. US broadcasters near the Canadian border had sales offices in Canada to market commercial time to Canadian firms and in some cases transmitters were established near the border to directly serve Canadian  markets (for example, Winnipeg was served by KCND-TV in Pembina, [[North Dakota]]; Vancouver was served by KVOS-TV in [[Bellingham]], Washington).
+The CBC also faced fierce competition. One of its strongest competitors was the privately owned CTV network, established in 1961. The BBC also faced competition from private networks such as ITV, but much unlike the British industry, the CBC faced direct international competition from foreign networks. In 1965, some 55% of the population of Canada could directly receive American broadcasts and cable television networks were growing rapidly to distribute US programming to Canadian viewers. US broadcasters near the Canadian border had sales offices in Canada to market commercial time to Canadian firms and in some cases transmitters were established near the border to directly serve Canadian  markets (for example, Winnipeg was served by KCND-TV in Pembina, [[North Dakota]]; Vancouver was served by KVOS-TV in [[Bellingham]], Washington).
 was also a watershed year for the CBC. In 1965 the Canadian government appointed Robert Fowler to chair the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting to study the state of Canadian broadcasting that may lead to changes in the system of broadcast regulation and the CBC mandate with its report due in September of 1965.   This could potentially lead to restructuring changes for the CBC.

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:55, 4 May 2015
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	:[https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=CM8TkaOD0KAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Broadcasting+Empire:+The+BBC+and+the+British+World%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=d7whVbCLNKHDmAWX3YCoDA&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=%22canada%20for%20between%205%20and%208%22&f=false Potter, Simon J. (2012). Broadcasting Empire: The BBC and the British World, 1922-1970. Oxford University Press]		:[https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=CM8TkaOD0KAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Broadcasting+Empire:+The+BBC+and+the+British+World%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=d7whVbCLNKHDmAWX3YCoDA&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=%22canada%20for%20between%205%20and%208%22&f=false Potter, Simon J. (2012). Broadcasting Empire: The BBC and the British World, 1922-1970. Oxford University Press]
−	BBC sales to the US were also impacted by the switch to colour. For example, see page 35 of the [~~https~~://~~docs~~.~~google~~.com/~~viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanradiohistory.com%2FArchive-BBC-Annual%2FBBC-Year-Book-1967~~.~~pdf~~ 1967 BBC Handbook] (which looks back at the year 1966).	+	BBC sales to the US were also impacted by the switch to colour. For example, see page 35 of the [http://www.americanradiohistory.com/BBC_YEAR_Book_Page_Key.htm 1967 BBC Handbook] (which looks back at the year 1966).

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 The Canadian Press article referenced a London Daily Mirror article which printed the text of a speech that Sir Hugh gave to a private gathering of 200 BBC executives in the previous week (the Daily Mirror obtained a recording of the speech). Sir Hugh took an adamant line that the BBC would not relieve its financial burdens by selling advertising and brought up the example of the CBC in this regard who was referred to, but not in a vindictive manner, as an unhappy organization.
-The Canadian Press article was carried in a number of Canadian newspapers (usually in the middle pages). The text was largely the same but the headline differed substantially. For example, the Ottawa Citizen on 28 May 1965 ran with the headline, ''“CBC ‘unhappy’, says BBC”''. The 27 May 1965 Saskatoon Star-Phoenix ran with the subdued headline, ''“CBC Said Unhappy Organization”''. The 27 May 1965 Lethbridge Herald ran with the sensationalistic headline, ''“BBC Director Tosses Rocks At The CBC”''.
+The Canadian Press article was carried in a number of Canadian newspapers (usually in the middle pages). The text was largely the same but the headline differed substantially. For example, the ''Windsor Star'' of 27 May ran the story claiming ''"BBC Chief Says CBC 'Unhappy'"'' (see right); the Ottawa Citizen on 28 May 1965 ran with the headline, ''“CBC ‘unhappy’, says BBC”''; the 27 May 1965 Saskatoon Star-Phoenix ran with the subdued headline, ''“CBC Said Unhappy Organization”''; the 27 May 1965 Lethbridge Herald ran with the sensationalistic headline, ''“BBC Director Tosses Rocks At The CBC”''.
 Not all newspapers in Canada carried the Canadian Press article, but all the Ottawa newspapers did, and Ottawa is where the headquarters of the CBC and the Parliament of Canada is located. It took some time to verify the story. In the 2 June 1965 edition of the Toronto Telegram a report was made where Sir Hugh confirmed the statements carried in the London Daily Mirror story. The article reported further statements from Sir Hugh that his remarks were made at a "confidential" meeting of broadcasting executives and should be considered in their context.
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 *'''Switch to colour broadcasting'''
-In addition to the considerable expense involved in switching to colour broadcasting, the CBC would have known that in just a few years a schedule filled primarily with colour programming would be in high demand. The CBC had only made a small dent in the '''Doctor Who''' catalogue (just 26 episodes) so they were quite aware that continuing with the series would have meant many years of black & white programming. (It is believed that this is also why stations in the [[United States]] were reluctant to pick up the series when it was offered to them in 1965: the advent of network colour television was signaled the death-knell for black and white material, especially anything that was foreign.)
+In addition to the considerable expense involved in switching to colour broadcasting, the CBC would have known that in just a few years a schedule filled primarily with colour programming would be in high demand. The CBC had only made a small dent in the '''Doctor Who''' catalogue (just 26 episodes) so they were quite aware that continuing with the series would have meant many years of black & white programming. (It is believed that this is also why stations in the [[United States]] were reluctant to pick up the series when it was offered to them in 1965: the advent of network colour television signaled the death-knell for black and white material, especially anything that was foreign.)

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 The switch to colour in Canada did impact BBC sales. For example, see page 218 of
-:Potter, Simon J. (2012). Broadcasting Empire: The BBC and the British World, 1922-1970. Oxford University Press.
+:[https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=CM8TkaOD0KAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Broadcasting+Empire:+The+BBC+and+the+British+World%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=d7whVbCLNKHDmAWX3YCoDA&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=%22canada%20for%20between%205%20and%208%22&f=false Potter, Simon J. (2012). Broadcasting Empire: The BBC and the British World, 1922-1970. Oxford University Press]
 BBC sales to the US were also impacted by the switch to colour. For example, see page 35 of the [https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanradiohistory.com%2FArchive-BBC-Annual%2FBBC-Year-Book-1967.pdf 1967 BBC Handbook] (which looks back at the year 1966).

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 ==The CBC in 1965==
 [[File:CBC Logo 1958-1966.png|thumb|right|250px]]
 The CBC is the public broadcaster of Canada but its television operations in 1965 was significantly different from that of a traditional public broadcaster such as the BBC as it essentially operated as a commercial entity. The CBC English television service operated transmitters in the largest Canadian cities covering roughly two-thirds of the population but the transmitters in the smaller centers were owned by private firms that operated under an affiliation agreement with the CBC. The CBC was funded by annual grants from the Canadian government but the CBC was expected to supplement this funding through advertising.  The privately owned affiliates subsisted entirely on advertising revenue and as such had a strong voice in influencing CBC programming.  This contrasts sharply with the BBC who owned all of its transmitters and operates under a 12 year charter with funding secured by license fees and carried no commercial advertising.

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 ==The CBC in 1965==
+[[File:CBC Logo 1958-1966.png|thumb|right|250px]]
 The CBC is the public broadcaster of Canada but its television operations in 1965 was significantly different from that of a traditional public broadcaster such as the BBC as it essentially operated as a commercial entity. The CBC English television service operated transmitters in the largest Canadian cities covering roughly two-thirds of the population but the transmitters in the smaller centers were owned by private firms that operated under an affiliation agreement with the CBC. The CBC was funded by annual grants from the Canadian government but the CBC was expected to supplement this funding through advertising.  The privately owned affiliates subsisted entirely on advertising revenue and as such had a strong voice in influencing CBC programming.  This contrasts sharply with the BBC who owned all of its transmitters and operates under a 12 year charter with funding secured by license fees and carried no commercial advertising.
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 ==Series Promotion==
+[[File:DWDebutJan65.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Generic "Debut" write-up of the sort that appeared in Canadian newspapers in January 1965]]
 Overall, strong attempts were made to promote '''Doctor Who''' in 1965. A number of newspapers published stock newspaper articles announcing the start of new '''Doctor Who''' serials and several newspapers also published detailed episode synopses with their TV listings. The number of newspapers who participated in this manner is not large (''TV Guide, Winnipeg Free Press, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Journal, Sudbury Star, Halifax Chronicle-Herald, St. John’s Evening Telegram'' and ''[[CBC Times]]''). However, this was a lot more exposure than a youth program would typically receive at this time.
+{{clear}}
 ==Doctor Who Time Slot Choice==
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 The ten Saturday episodes of the 1965 '''Doctor Who''' run in Canada had to go head-to-head with the very popular '''Wide World of Sports''' program carried by the ABC network in the US (and the CTV network in Canada). Not to outdone, the US NBC network carried 10 golf specials during that period: 23 January – '''Bing Crosby Golf Tournament'''; 6 February – '''Bob Hope Golf Classic'''; 30 January, 13 February to 27 March – “Big Three Golf” specials with Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, all in colour.  The 5:00 PM Saturday time slot also had the usual assortment of bowling and wrestling matches.  All-in-all, this was pretty significant competition for a youth program such as '''Doctor Who''' but one could understand why the CBC attempted to stand out and create a niche holding for this time-slot by serving a market most other networks were ignoring.
+[[File:ForestRangers.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]
 On 6 February 1965 the CBC picked up the rights to show the NBC special for the '''Bob Hope Golf Classic''' and it pre-empted '''Doctor Who''' to air this program (by that time the CBC was mid-way through the first '''Doctor Who''' serial). The last Saturday episode for '''Doctor Who''' was on 3 April 1965 before it switched to Wednesdays (swapping time slots with '''[[wikipedia:The Forest Rangers|The Forest Rangers]]''', a CBC production). If '''Doctor Who''' remained in the Saturday time slot it would have been pre-empted several more times, especially for horse racing such as on 1 May 1965 (The Kentucky Derby), 5 June 1965 (Belmont Stakes) and 26 June 1965 (The Queen's Plate).  The 5:00 PM Saturday time slot would also be subjected to further competition from golf specials such as the CBS network Masters Golf Tournament on 10 April 1965 and the NBC network U.S. National Open Golf Tournament on 19 June 1965. '''The Forest Rangers''' would have not have had an easier time than '''Doctor Who''' for the Saturday time slot.
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 ==Move to Colour Broadcasting==
+[[File:CBCinColor.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Print ad announcing "CBC TELEVISION …. now in color!]]
-The announcement on 16 June 1965 that Canada would switch to colour broadcasting would have a significant impact on the CBC.  The cost to convert the CBC network to colour in addition to the very expensive construction of the broadcast centre in Montreal for the 1967 World Fair’s (Expo ’67) would tax CBC resources. This may have resulted in cost cutting measures at the CBC that may have resulted in the cancellation of '''Doctor Who'''. The first CBC colour broadcasts were in the Fall of 1966.
+The announcement on 16 June 1965 that Canada would switch to colour broadcasting would have a significant impact on the CBC.  The cost to convert the CBC network to colour in addition to the very expensive construction of the broadcast centre in Montreal for the 1967 World Fair’s (Expo ’67) would tax CBC resources. This may have resulted in cost cutting measures at the CBC that may have resulted in the cancellation of '''Doctor Who'''. The first CBC colour broadcasts were in the '''Fall of 1966'''.
 Besides the enormous cost, the switch to colour may have had some impact on the decision to not renew '''Doctor Who'''. By the time the switch to colour was announced the BBC was nearing the end of the second season of '''Doctor Who'''. By this point the CBC has aired 26 episodes whereas the BBC had already produced 81 episodes and the BBC was keeping a pace of 40+ episodes per season. The CBC must have know that black & white production for '''Doctor Who''' would continue for a number of years and showing episodes at a pace of 26 per season (standard North American order) would mean that '''Doctor Who''' would continue in black & white for many years. It is possible that the CBC felt that investment in a black & white series would backfire as there would soon be competition from American colour productions.
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 We know that BBC Director-General Sir Hugh Greene met with CBC President J. Alphonse Ouimet on 2 June 1965. That would have been a good opportunity for a “handshake deal” to renew Doctor Who prior to the sudden Canadian government announcement of 16 June 1965 for the switch to colour broadcasting. It is possible that this sequence of events that took place over a two-week span in June, during the final month of the CBC run for Doctor Who, may have spelled doom for the series in Canada.
-The “Unhappy Organization” debate has parallels with a 1966 CBC interview with '''Doctor Who''' co-creator, Sydney Newman. The program aired on '''27 November 1966''' on the CBC program '''The Umbrella''' and is available for view on the [http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/arts-entertainment/media/media-general/a-1966-interview-with-public-broadcasting-impresario-sydney-newman.html  CBC Digital Archives].
+The “Unhappy Organization” debate has parallels with a 1966 CBC interview with '''Doctor Who''' co-creator, Sydney Newman. The program aired on '''27 November 1966''' on the CBC program '''The Umbrella''' and is available for view on the '''[http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/arts-entertainment/media/media-general/a-1966-interview-with-public-broadcasting-impresario-sydney-newman.html  CBC Digital Archives]'''.
-Early in the interview (conducted circa late September or early October, if the 7 September 1966 issue of ''Variety Weekly'' sitting on his desk is a recent acquisition) Sydney Newman mentions a "silly program like '''Doctor Who''' "and to demonstrate the point he casually waves around a toy Dalek that he keeps on his desk. The subject of discontent at the CBC (prompted by the interviewer) started at 13:03 with peaks at 22:10 and 26:35. Sydney Newman closes out the interview with statements on commercial television starting at 40:47 where he offered such points as "I believe in commercials in the middle of the program" and "The forced break in the middle of a play is an exciting structural toe-hold that a writer can really use". Such statements would not have been popular with the BBC management of 1966.
+Early in the interview (conducted circa late September or early October, if the 7 September 1966 issue of ''Variety Weekly'' sitting on his desk is a recent acquisition) Sydney Newman mentions a "silly program like '''Doctor Who'''" and to demonstrate the point he casually waves around a toy Dalek that he keeps on his desk (from 2:44). The subject of discontent at the CBC (prompted by the interviewer) started at 13:03 with peaks at 22:10 and 26:35. Sydney Newman closes out the interview with statements on commercial television starting at 40:47 where he offered such points as "I believe in commercials in the middle of the program" and "The forced break in the middle of a play is an exciting structural toe-hold that a writer can really use".
 '''© Randy Howell'''
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